Bennie Seltzer Selected as USA Basketball Trials Court Coach

NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma men's basketball assistant coach Bennie Seltzer, along with College of Charleston head coach Tom Herrion, Wayland Baptist head coach Todd Thurman and Richmond head coach Jerry Wainwright, have been selected to serve as court coaches at the 2004 USA Basketball Men's National Team Trials, USA Basketball announced Monday.

The Trials court coaching staff is responsible for conducting drills, coaching scrimmages and working with players who will be vying for spots on the 2004 USA World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team. The four will assist the 2004 USA Young Men National Team coaching staff, headed by OU's Kelvin Sampson, at the July 16-18 Trials at the New Jersey Nets practice facility in East Rutherford.

Bennie Seltzer bio

The first Trials session will be held on Friday, July 16 at 10 a.m. (all times local), followed by a 5 p.m. session that night. July 17 and 18 will again feature two-a-days with starting times at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

A seven-year (1997-98 to present) assistant coach to Sampson and the Sooners, Seltzer has helped OU compile a 175-59 record for a stellar .748 winning percentage. The Sooners have won no less than 20 games each of the past seven seasons and posted a 31-5 mark in the 2001-02 when they went to the Final Four. Additionally, Seltzer has been on the sidelines for seven consecutive postseason berths, including six NCAA Tournaments (1998-2003) and the 2004 NIT.

A four-year standout at Washington State, Seltzer was a 1993 All-Pac-10 first teamer as a senior after averaging 17.9 points and 4.7 assists a game. A 1990 Pac-10 All-Freshman Team selection, Seltzer averaged 11.7 points and 4.1 assists per contest in his rookie campaign. He was his team's assist leader all four years and paced WSU in steals as a freshman and senior. The career leader in assists (473) at WSU, where he played for Sampson, Seltzer also ranks second in 3-point field goals made (230), sixth in points (1,423) and sixth in steals (147).

The 2004 Trials will feature approximately 25 of the nation's top 20-year-old and younger players (born on or after Jan. 1, 1984) and will be used to select finalists for the 2004 USA Basketball World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team. Finalists will remain in New Jersey for the USA's July 19-23 training camp, which will feature a pair of daily practices at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. through July 22 and a final practice at 10 a.m. on July 23. The eventual 12-member team will be announced during the training camp.

The young American squad will tip off play at the 2004 FIBA Americas World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Tournament on July 28. The U.S. will compete against seven other teams from the Americas for one of the three Americas Zone qualifying berths for the 2005 FIBA World Championships For Young Men, which will be hosted next summer by Argentina. Featuring eight nations divided into two groups of four, the competition schedule includes a preliminary round with round-robin play between teams in each group July 28-30. The top two finishing teams in each group will advance to the July 31 semifinals and the gold medal will be contested Aug. 1.

The World Championship For Young Men and its zone qualifying tournaments are held every four years. The USA has qualified for all three previous World Championship For Young Men tournaments and has compiled a 22-2 overall record while winning gold medals in 1993 and 2001. United States squads have also compiled a 15-2 win-loss record in the three Young Men Qualifiers, winning gold in 1996 and silver in 2000 and 1993.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Bennie Seltzer Selected as USA Basketball Trials Court Coach

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